Dive Bomber is a 1941 American aviation drama film directed by Michael Curtiz,Dolan 1985, p. 63. and starring Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray and Alexis Smith. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film is notable for both its Technicolor photography of pre-World War II United States Navy aircraft and as a historical document of the U.S. in 1941.Hardwick and Schnepf 1989, pp. 57–58. This includes the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, one of the best-known U.S. warships of World War II.
The film was the last of a collaboration between director Curtiz and actor Errol Flynn, which began in 1935 and spanned 12 films.Kinnard and Vitone 1986, p. 74. The cast also includes Fred MacMurray, on loan from Paramount Studios, and Alexis Smith, in her first credited screen performance. Flynn portrays a Harvard-educated doctor who is involved in heroic medical research on pilots, with MacMurray as the skeptical veteran aviator who gets swept up in the project. The plot is not historically accurate, but depicted in a near-documentary style, the film contains elements of true events that were involved in period aeromedical research, as well as real contemporary medical equipment.Beck, Sanderson. "Dive Bomber (1941)." san.beck.org, 2002. Retrieved: September 4, 2009.
The vivid cinematography prompted the tagline: "The stunning spectacle of color rides with you into the heavens!"Dive Bomber DVD, 2007. Bert Glennon was nominated for an Oscar for Best Color Cinematography at the 14th Academy Awards in 1942. The film is dedicated to the flight surgeons of the U.S. armed forces "in recognition of their heroic efforts to solve the immensely difficult problems of aviation medicine".The film was a big hit at the box office, rounding out as the 19th-highest-grossing film of 1941.
Plot During a bombing squadron's prewar operations from an aircraft carrier off Hawaii, one of the fliers, Lt. "Swede" Larson, blacks out during a high-speed dive and crashes. At the Honolulu base hospital, Lieutenant Commander Joe Blake (Fred MacMurray) is concerned that Larson (Louis Jean Heydt) will not survive. U.S. Navy doctor Lieutenant Doug Lee (Errol Flynn) convinces his senior surgeon (Addison Richards) to operate, but the pilot dies on the operating table. After Blake blames Lee for rushing the surgery, the doctor decides to become a naval flight surgeon and winds up being trained at the U.S. Naval Air Station in San Diego by a number of instructors, including Blake. A subplot introduces divorcee Linda Fisher (Alexis Smith) as a love interest for the two rivals, Blake and Lee. On completion of his flight training, Lee is posted as assistant to senior flight surgeon, Commander Lance Rogers (Ralph Bellamy). Together, they conduct experimental research into possible solutions for pilot blackout.
Even though he has qualified as a naval aviator, Lee's judgment of pilots' ability to fly is resented by Blake when he grounds an old friend, Lieutenant Tim Griffin (Regis Toomey), who is suffering from chronic fatigue. In anger, Griffin resigns from the Navy and joins the Royal Air Force in Canada. However, he later dies when misjudging his approach during an attempted landing. Blake finally accepts that Lee is trying to help pilots survive dangerous, high-altitude flying, and volunteers as a "guinea pig" pilot for aerial experiments. The first flight test of a pressurized cabin nearly ends in disaster when the aircraft ices up and Blake passes out, forcing Lee to take over. After ground testing of a pressure suit developed jointly by Lee and Blake, the latter is told that he did not pass his most recent flight physical and will be grounded. Without permission, Blake carries out the aerial testing of the new suit. Tragically, the oxygen regulator fails. As a result, Blake loses consciousness and fatally crashes. His notes are salvaged from the wreckage, however, and mass production of the suit begins. In the final scene, Blake's sacrifice is acknowledged while Rogers and Lee are honored for their pioneering work in protecting pilots flying at high altitude.
Cast Errol Flynn as LT Douglas S. "Doug" Lee, Medical Corps, USN Fred MacMurray as LCDR Joe Blake, USN Ralph Bellamy as LCDR Lance Rogers, Medical Corps, USN Alexis Smith as Mrs. Linda Fisher Robert Armstrong as Art Lyons Regis Toomey as LT Tim Griffin, USN Allen Jenkins as Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class "Lucky" James Craig Stevens as Pilot Trainee, ENS John Anthony, USN Herbert Anderson as LT "Slim" Markham, Medical Corps, USN Moroni Olsen as CDR Martin, Medical Corps, USN, in San Diego Dennie Moore as Ex-wife of "Lucky" James Louis Jean Heydt as LT "Swede" Larson, USN Cliff Nazarro as Double-talking Corpsman Tod Andrews as Telephone Man (uncredited) Creighton Hale as Hospital Attendant (uncredited) Howard Hickman as Admiral (uncredited) Addison Richards as Honolulu surgeon operating on Larson (uncredited)
Production Development Dive Bomber is characterized as "Warner's tribute to the pre-Pearl Harbor U.S. Navy".Hardwick and Schnepf 1989, p. 58. Based on a screenplay adapted from an original story by Commander Frank "Spig" Wead, USN (Ret), Dive Bomber features spectacular flying scenes (as in other films with a scenario written by Wead) interwoven into a storyline of medical research undertaken to combat the effects of high g-force combat maneuvers. The "Schneider index" test playing a pivotal role in the plot in the story was actually a cardiovascular fatigue test familiar to pilots of the era. Developed in 1918 by Major Edward C. Schneider, an aviation medicine pioneer with the Air Service of the AEF, it was widely used by the military until World War II, when statistical analysis showed that a much simpler measurement was equally effective.
Upon the first reading of the proposed script, the Department of the Navy realized the potential of the film to be a showcase of U.S. Naval aviation and lent its full support to the production. Dive Bombers working title was "Beyond the Blue Sky".
In December 1940, Warner Bros. originally intended to star James Cagney, George Brent, and Ronald Reagan, with Lloyd Bacon directing Dive Bomber."Notes: Dive Bomber." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: February 7, 2014.Churchill, Douglas W. "Screen news here and in Hollywood." The New York Times, December 18, 1940, p. 33. By February 1941, however, the script had been revised and the project reconfigured as an Errol Flynn film, with a new director."Dive Bomber' is next vehicle of Errol Flynn." The New York Times, February 15, 1941, p. 9. Filming was given priority over Flynn's other planned vehicle, They Died with Their Boots On (1941) because the U.S. Navy requested Dive Bomber be made as soon as possible.Parsons, Louella O. "Close-ups and long-shots of the motion picture scene." Washington Post, February 17, 1941, p. 9.
Fred MacMurray was borrowed from Paramount to star opposite Flynn. In exchange, Paramount borrowed Olivia de Havilland from Warner Bros. for Hold Back the Dawn (1941).Churchill, Douglas W. "Fred MacMurray will co-star with Errol Flynn in 'Dive Bomber' for Warners." The New York Times, March 3, 1941, p. 11.
Preproduction planning began in January 1941, and once the generous $1.7 million budget was established, a tight schedule of two months was determined for principal photography on location. Although the U.S. Navy had agreed to cooperate, providing over 1,000 officers and enlisted men along with access to some of its most highly secured facilities, world events had dictated a full war readiness, which placed additional pressures on the film cast and crew. With all naval air and sea forces committed to training and war exercises, Curtiz was notified in advance so that he could take advantage of the ongoing activities and set up his camera crews accordingly.
Filming Dive Bomber was the final film collaboration between Errol Flynn and Michael Curtiz. It was the 12th and most contentious pairing of the high-spirited matinee idol and the fiery director. Throughout the production, an ever-widening rift emerged between the two due to conflicts over the use of actors in demanding and sometimes risky scenes, leading to inevitable clashes and delays in filming. The off-screen moments were fraught with stress for the cast and crew observing the contentious exchanges.Orriss 1984, p. 27.
An ongoing motif involving gold cigarette cases from the National Air Races carried by each of the three "High Hats" squadron leaders continues into the final sequence. Blake is the last of the three to perish in service, and Lee throws his cigarette case from one of the squadron's airplanes out over the Pacific as a final tribute.
One bizarre incident came about when a formation of aircraft flew over the film set at a time when all the cameras were being reloaded. Curtiz reacted immediately by standing up and waving them off when he realized that the camera crews were not in position. The pilots, who were setting out on a daily exercise, simply ignored the gesticulating and screaming Curtiz below. The film crews were mightily amused by Curtiz's declarations of "No, no. Go back!" as if the flight crews could actually hear him. The incident was symptomatic of the many outbursts and exchanges on the set when the autocratic Curtiz helmed a film.Dive Bomber: Keep 'Em in the Air 2005.
Principal photography began on March 20, 1941, at NAS North Island in San Diego with the famous aircraft carrier , also placed at the disposal of the production crew of 150 actors and technicians for an entire week.Farmer 1989, p. 81.Dougherty, Frank. "Hollywood Letter: 'Dive Bomber' on the Way." Christian Science Monitor, April 4, 1941, p. 8.
When principal photography commenced, the initial aircraft scenes featured U.S. Navy aircraft in their prewar colorful schemes, set off by the Technicolor process, making this a vibrant document, unique for its time.Orriss 1984, p. 26.
During filming, as war preparations ramped up, the U.S. Navy ordered a new grey color camouflage for all its sea-based aircraft, with the associate producer Robert Lord scrambling to have a concession made where a few aircraft in each squadron would retain their colorful schemes to match previously shot footage. The film ultimately uses footage that includes aircraft in this new uniform light-grey color scheme especially in the carrier sequence.Orriss 1984, p. 28.
Though famed aerial pilot and cinematographer Paul Mantz is listed in the credits as the chief pilot for Warner Bros., his injuries in a previous accident prevented him from doing the flying, so Frank Clarke took over, with Mantz continuing to oversee the air operations.Orriss 1984, p. 25.
Although Errol Flynn had a pilot's license, he was expressly forbidden to fly in the production, under threat of suspension from Warner Bros. due to his "buzzing" the cast and crew of 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood. Flynn did taxi a dive bomber to allow closeups of him in the cockpit during a critical scene when his character "is testing a g-resistant belt."Farmer 1989, p. 19.
The bulky Technicolor cameras caused considerable problems in the scenes filmed in the air; special mounts were built to allow one of the two cameras in the chase aircraft to be moved back and forth. With the preponderance of actual aerial footage shot from a bevy of camera platforms, both on the ground and mounted to aircraft, Dive Bomber was notable in the restrained use of special effects. During the two months of studio post-production, footage of scale models and closeup "blue screen" effects were matched up with the aerial sequences.